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Video: Palestinians challenge Israel border again

Closed captioning of: Palestinians challenge Israel border again

>>>tensions are running high in the
middle east
yet again this morning. nbc's
stephanie
gosk is following the story from tripoli, libya. good morning.

>> reporter: good morning, natalie. well, taking their inspiration from the peaceful demonstrations of the arab spring, unarmed palestinians and their supporters challenged the
israeli military
on the
syria
-
israel
border for the second time in a month. and for the second time in a month it lead to bloodshed. [ gunfire ]

>> reporter: gunfire again in the
golan heights
. unarmed palestinians and their supporters attempted to push across the border from
syria
into
israel
. [ gunfire ]

>> reporter: when warning shots didn't stop them,
direct fire
did. israeli officials are calling it a deliberate provocation, supported, they say, by the syrian government to deflect attention from its own internal uprising. it was the worst violence between the two countries in more than 30 years.
syria
says 22 were killed,
israel
says only 12 were injured. and with the new front in the arab spring taking hold in
israel
, a familiar uprising entered a new phase. in
yemen
, thousands celebrated the sudden and unexpected departure of president
ali abdullah saleh
. he fly to
saudi arabia
for specialized
medical treatment
after being injured in a rocket attack on his compound friday. an operation reportedly removed shrapnel from the leader's chest, but there is no official word on his condition. many hope the man that has ruled
yemen
for 33 years as a dictator will not come back, and they fear what might happen if he does.

>>i think there's a strong chance that the
civil war
will take place in
yemen
. and
yemen
will see a war that will last for many, many, many years.

>> reporter: despite what the embattled president decides to do, it may be too early for celebrations. even if saleh does not return, there are still competing armed factions vying for power in
yemen
, and an active branch of
al qaeda
looking to take advantage of the chaos. natalie?